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Before and After: Grey and Gold Painted Vintage Dresser

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted a painted dresser makeover, but the honest truth is that I haven’t had any projects! I’d be looking for one to work on every week with no luck, sure there were lots of very expensive dressers, solid teak cabinets etc, but my focus is to bring new life to vintage plywood dressers that I don’t feel guilty painting. Plus it just feels great to make something ugly beautiful again.

Here’s what I recently got my hands on, it’s a simple 6 drawer plywood and particle board dresser, nothing fancy really, but better than nothing! My neighbour was getting rid of it and all I had to do was wheel it into my apartment and it was mine.red painted dresser before and after
I had to save this dresser! I couldn’t let this badly worn red paint live this way in someones home. It needed a makeover, even if it wasn’t perfect, just something simple to freshen it up. A few coats of white paint and some new hardware would do the trick. The drawers were in really rough shape and so was the top surface, I did what I could to fix it, but even after patching it and sanding, it’s still pretty rough, but the fresh coats of paint really helps.Read More »Before and After: Grey and Gold Painted Vintage Dresser

Fixing rusted furniture with gold Sharpie pen

How to Fix Rusted Metal with Gold Sharpie Pens

After spending the past couple of years fixing up old furniture I’ve come across a lot of rusted metal, it’s fairly straight forward to fix larger areas of metal with spray paint or just replace it with new hardware, but sometimes there’s smaller areas like the feet on furniture legs or accent inlays of metal that are rusted and you can’t replace them because you can’t source the parts.

Fixing rusted furniture with gold Sharpie pen
I’m about to show you the easiest trick to make rusted metal look new again, anyone can do it!
Get yourself a metallic Sharpie pen, in this case I used gold.

Read More »How to Fix Rusted Metal with Gold Sharpie Pens

Custom labels from Minted

Get Organized With Custom Labels from Minted

Spring is in full swing, although in Vancouver it’s feeling more like Summer, it’s so warm! This time of year I love to freshen up my space, clean and dust everything, get rid of things I don’t need and most of all, get organized. I’ve recently discovered new custom labels from Minted.com to help me get organized.

Minted‘s new labels are pre-designed but you can customize text and colours. They’re durable and a perfect way to customize and label containers, sports equipment, toys and even clothing. The labels are waterproof, non-toxic, laundry and dishwasher safe. Below are a few of my favorites, you can see that I’ve customized them in various ways and all it takes is a few clicks on their website, super easy!

Custom labels from Minted

You can label your children’s clothing, lunch containers, bags and so much more. I don’t have children so I’m thinking of ways I can use them for myself.Read More »Get Organized With Custom Labels from Minted

Valentine's Day DIY Card

A Totally Tea-riffic DIY Valentine

A quick and quirky DIY Valentine that pairs well with a small gift for your girlfriend, boyfriend, mom, dad,  friend or anyone you love! It’s also great for birthday’s, anniversaries, or just because. I like that it doesn’t require a lot of craft supplies or skills, but it ends up being super cute, because in the end it’s the thought that matters.

DIY Valentine card with earl grey chocolate

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vintage chair before

We’re Getting Our Vintage Chairs Upholstered

It only took just over a year, but we’ve finally started the process to get our vintage mid century chairs upholstered. I had written about it many months ago and now it’s finally becoming a reality!

So far Andrew has refinished the wood and cleaned up the brass on the arms and legs. Here’s a before and after of that process. The arms and legs were sanded down to reveal the wood grain and a clear finished was applied.

refinished vintage chair

Here’s some before photos of the 2 chairs, one chair is obviously in better condition than the other, but both have holes in the fabric.Read More »We’re Getting Our Vintage Chairs Upholstered

painted vintage mid century modern sideboard before and after

Before and After: Painted Vintage Sideboard

This past Summer Andrew and I found this awesome solid plywood vintage sideboard, credenza, mid century modern cabinet (whatever you want to call it). I finally took some photos of it to share here and can’t wait to finally sell it….or keep it…

It weights a ton and if you could have seen how we got it home you would of had a good laugh, lets just say thank goodness we didn’t live too far from where we found it!

Here’s the before photos of this vintage sideboard:

vintage sideboard before and after

Here’s some close ups of all the ugly laminate that was broken and peeling off. Those legs though…
You have no idea how good it felt to remove all the loose bits of laminate!

vintage credenza before and after

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Craigslist Etiquette

Craigslist Etiquette: Tips for buying and selling

Craigslist Etiquette

I’ve been selling stuff on Craigslist forever. I’ve sold tear outs from home renovations, appliances, old toilets, cabinets, housewares and furniture. I feel like over the years I’ve really developed a knack for knowing how to write a post. As much as I’ve sold stuff on craigslist, I’ve also purchased a lot over the years too.

My purchases are mostly vintage furniture for our apartment and for our furniture upcycling projects. Going to strangers homes to buy something from a photo you saw online can be very scary, there’s a lot to consider and so I thought I’d share some tips and general etiquette on how to show up at someone’s home when you purchase and also how to write a typical post.

Buying
You go on Craigslist and find that perfect item. You want to start off by reading the post thoroughly and finding out if it has all the information you need. Does the seller mention their preferred method of contact? Normally it’s email through anonymous craigslist forwarding. You’ll want to email the seller and set up a time to pick up the piece. Here’s a few key tips on how to avoid being a pain when buying.
Read More »Craigslist Etiquette: Tips for buying and selling

loft apartment office

The Pros and Cons of Loft Living

Over 3 years ago Andrew and I made the plunge to move in together and move into a loft apartment. It was all very exciting and new. It was also pretty stressful because we did a super rushed renovation before we moved in and I’ll tell you right now, never rush a renovation. The only reason we rushed ours was because of timing and we had the resources because my family works in the renovation business.

Our space is 1,100 sqft with the bedroom and one of the bathrooms upstairs. The ground floor has a kitchen/living room space and a small bathroom. Here’s the floor plan, it’s since changed a bit, but it’ll give you an idea of the space we’re living in.

loft apartment floor plan

After a year, we finally felt settled in, but I started to notice some pros and cons of loft living. I’ll start off by saying I love my loft, I love the lifestyle, but there are some things I really had to adjust to, so I thought I’d share them with you incase you’re thinking of moving into one.Read More »The Pros and Cons of Loft Living